Kiefer and fireblight

[TreeDaddy]

Anyone else experience this?

I have five from a reputable nursery man planted in 2013 . I have only one survivor

Each year , beautiful blooms and then WHAM!!!! I prune affected limbs and then burn them

Any other pears that might be blight resistant?

bill

 

[Jordan Selsor]

Tommy - Thunter mentioned the same exsperience with Kiefer. Think he cut all his down as well.
You know it’s kinda crazy everyone dogs on Bartlett but of my pears it is growing the most aggressive with no signs of trouble.
How old were your Kiefers? Someone on here mentioned that getting a fruit tree to 5 years old seems to be the point where it can overcome adversity

 

[TreeDaddy]

2 years old

they started to bear fruit at age 3 .

We then experienced an unseasonably rainy,humid spring

Trouble began shortly thereafter

bill

 

[Bowsnbucks]

Rainy, humid and windy weather can damage blossoms and new tender growth on pears, setting up perfect conditions for FB. I've had an ornamental ( Bradford type ) pear in my back yard for about 30 years. Some years it gets some FB ( usually with conditions like you describe ), and other years, I don't see any FB evidence.

Our Kieffers at camp have shown no FB ............... yet. If they start with that - down they come.

 

[Prof.Kent]

There are Fire Blight resistant pears available, like Magness, Seckel, and Warren. I don't think there are any FB immune pear varieties.
I have an Orcas and a Warren pear. Neither have had FB, but I am blessed and get very little FB here. Too bad I am not blessed with the fruit. These two trees rarely ever set fruit and they are 15+ years old. The Orcas has set about 6 pear total in the past 6 years.

 

[Native Hunter]

Two pears on which I have never seen a hint of fireblight are Moonglow and Ayers. I'm not saying they are completely immune, but in many, many years of growing them in a FB prone area, I have never seen them affected. Last year my neighbor had an apple tree close to two of my Ayers trees which had FB so bad I thought it was going to die. Neither of my pears showed anything, and I had a bumper crops of fruit.

I hear the horror stories on Kieffer and FB but have never seen it myself. I have seen new growth on Kieffer affected by FB in really bad years, but have never seen it go into second year wood. I'm not doubting what anyone else says - just relaying my experience.

I do believe that there are a lot of pears out there being sold as Kieffer that are not true Kieffer. Stop and think about it - boo boos happen all the time.

Even one of the best apples to ever come from the PRI Breeding Program almost went obscure because a mix-up was made, and the wrong apple was being sold for a long time.

With humans, stuff happens, and as long as Kieffer has been around (150+ years) - lots of stuff has probably happened.

 

[chickenlittle]

I think Native is right. If it looks like a Kieffer, it gets called a Kieffer. Without DNA testing, who knows?

 

[Bowsnbucks]

^^^^^^ I just had horrible thought .............. I got our "Kieffer" pears from Morse. Maybe they're not Kieffer. I got our 3 pear trees from there - 2 Kieffer and 1 hybrid. Our first and last purchase from Morse. If FB shows up - they'll meet Mr. Stihl, then the burn pile.

 

[ksgobbler]

Mine haven’t put on fruit yet but are only a couple years old. However they grow like a weed. They claim to be survivors and more resistant to blight.
https://www.nativnurseries.com/p-51-wild-deer-pear-pyrus-communis.aspx

 

[Native Hunter]

I have a pear tree growing on my farm that I bought as a Kieffer, but I know is not a Kieffer. It is a decent pear and worth keeping, but it has many attributes that tell me it is something else. Consider the following:

• The fruit resembles Kieffer but is actually just a little bit bigger.
• It gets fireblight a little worse than Kieffer but not enough to be a deal killer.
• It ripens at least 3 or 4 weeks before Kieffer.
• It has a tendency to hang on the tree until overripe. That is not a bad thing for an orchard tree for human consumption, but not ideal for a wildlife planting. Kieffer drops readily when ripe.
• It doesn't keep as long as Kieffer.
• The flavor is decent, but the flesh is softer than Kieffer.

My guess is that this is a seedling of Kieffer. Lots of people think if you plant a seed from a Kieffer you get a Kieffer - Wrong!!!

 

[Bowsnbucks]

Thanks for the info, Steve. I'll keep an eye on ours & see what turns out.